Fluttering Hearts
by Lucicelo
Summary: Kae thought Valentine's Day would be as easy as an otome game.


_A/N: This is for an anonymous user on tumblr and oh man I'm so sorry this is late. This was buried in between my files and I barely finished it this last night. I hope this was worth the wait!_

 _-Lucicelo_

* * *

Kae spent a whole week preparing a heart wrenching fic for her girlfriend, Shima. Balancing schoolwork, new shows, hanging out with friends, and dates with Shima, she kept on rewriting it. It didn't seem to flow well enough for her taste. She gifted Shima plenty of fics before, some fluffier, others angst ridden which brought them both to tears. This time, she poured all her love into the OTP they both shared.

A new show came during the springtime, capturing their attention. Shima drew doujins while she wrote multiple fics. The main pairing reminded her of them and she wanted to showcase it to Shima.

She downed coffee to perk her up as she went to work. Checking the time, she had a few hours before going to sleep. She wrote down the summary, title, and readied for transferring the fic into the proper area. A few more paragraphs to go and this would be posted on her account. Saving it one last time in her computer, she went back to writing.

Out of nowhere, the screen changed color. Kae's hands trembled over the keyboard of her laptop. Horror plunged her stomach further down her body as she stared at the blue screen of death. The dreaded curse which affected computers. _Her writing_. All that work, disappeared in one swoop.

She dropped off her bed in a dead faint.

Taking it to the shop was a nightmare in itself. She tried writing the fic again on her brother's computer, but he kicked her out for his own schoolwork. Pouting at her brother's disregard to her plight, she tried using good old fashioned paper and pencil. It didn't come out right. The eraser marks scuffed certain parts which broke her concentration.

She waited for her laptop, antsy and nervous. After a few days, the tech salvaged nothing and wiped off everything. Games, saved fics, and photos, lost and erased. She tried one last attempt at remembering her own writing, but it came out jolted and empty.

She dropped the fic idea.

In her quest on focusing on her writing, she ignored the signs of Valentine's Day. Entering the store for snacks, the advertisements of molds and premium chocolate popped out at her. Bright red and pink hearts hung all over the stores. Remembering one of her otome games, the protagonist gave their sweetheart chocolates and they kissed at the end.

Taking it to heart, she bought the necessary materials and ran on home. Her mother tried lending a hand, wanting to help her daughter make them as lovely as possible. Kae turned down the help and went to work. Searching online sources, she found a recipe which seemed great for beginners. She placed her laptop on the counter and glanced back at it while working.

Her brother bolted out of his seat and ran out of the kitchen. She heard him exclaim on his way to the bathroom. "This is _disgusting_! What did you put in this?! _Ugh!_ "

She huffed in annoyance. Thinking her brother exaggerated on the taste, she picked one up, bit into it. Her face paled. Giving one last look to her creations, she backed away. Moving toward the sink, she spit out her bite into the mini trash bin inside of the sink.

When her mother returned from her shopping trip, Kae explained the mess in the kitchen. Her mother sighed, patting her head and tasting the chocolates. Showing no outward reaction, she pointed out the steps she missed and how she switched the sugar for salt. After going through all the trouble, Kae didn't want to make another batch.

Another plan failed.

On Valentine's Day, she received friendly chocolates from her friends. The gifts made her feel a bit better, but her thoughts went onto Shima. Their different grades made it easier for her to avoid her girlfriend. She didn't want her to find out about her failures just yet.

Shinomiya, Igarashi, Mutsumi, and Nanashima found her behavior strange. Although, they didn't question it, thinking she would tell them herself. Mutsumi found out the reason without even trying. She begged him not to say anything to the other guys and he relented. Advising her not to avoid her girlfriend or she might suspect something awful happened.

She ended up texting Shima throughout the day. Sending reassuring messages while panicking on the inside. Shima wanted to meet her at lunch, but she shut down the idea. She made up excuses and hoped Shima didn't show up out of the blue.

Once school ended, the boys left with arm fulls of chocolate. Kae handed them expensive chocolate which sated their disappointed faces. As she stepped out of the school gate, a man in a suit guided her into an expensive car. Knowing Shima's flashy tendencies, she didn't try to run off or scream for help. Shima beamed at the sight of her, making her feel horrible for not spending time with her at school.

Shima held her close before pecking her cheek. "At least you didn't run off when my driver picked you up."

Kae chuckled, remembering the incident quite well. "Y-Yeah. I didn't expect that on a first date." Relaxing a bit, she noticed they neared Shima's home. "Are we just going to hang out today?"

"I have a surprise for you waiting at the house." Shima informed her, "It's nothing fancy, but there's food involved."

Kae said. "That's great!"

Once the car stopped, the driver let them out of the car. Shima lead her inside, going through different hallways toward the back. Kae listened to Shima tease her about her gift. Shima's excitement brought nervous butterflied in her stomach. Her chest constricted because of her lack of a gift. Shima always seemed to have everything together without trying.

Shima opened the door to her room, presenting a large blanket, spread throughout the floor, covered with different containers of food. " _Ta da!_ We're having a picnic in my room for today. C'mon. You can sit right next to the macaroons."

Kae followed behind Shima. Shell shocked at the normal gift Shima prepared for her. She sat down in the area indicated, checking at the different food as her eyes watered. Her tears trickled down her cheeks as she tried forcing herself not to make any more.

"Senpai? Kae?" Shima scooted closer, wiping the tears from Kae's face. "What's going on?"

Kae hiccuped. "All the gifts I wanted to give you were ruined." She listed them with her fingers. "My laptop got a virus, wiping off the fanfic I wanted to give you. I tried making chocolates, but they burned and tasted nasty."

Shima picked up one of Kae's hands and pressed a kiss on the knuckles before interlacing their fingers. "Senpai, just having you here is more than enough for me. You can always give me something for White Day instead. Let me treat you to this picnic. Okay?"

Kae sniffled, dabbing her eyes with the handkerchief Shima gave her. "O-Okay." She collected herself and smiled light. "Of all things, you prepared a picnic for us?"

Shima sheepishly smiled. "Well...I almost booked us a reservation to a high end restaurant, then I remembered you never had a picnic before. I called your favorite restaurant and picked up the food." She cringed a bit. "Although...you did say you wanted a picnic outside in a garden."

Kae played with strands of her hair. "It's the thought that counts. You remembered the picnic part!"


End file.
